Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of technical support and more particularly to optimizing technical support based on complexity of user knowledge.
Description of the Related Art
With the increasing use of modern technology, there is a growing requirement to provide technical support to computer users. Technical support may be delivered over the telephone or via various online media such as e-mail or a Web site. Technical support is often subdivided into levels in order to better serve a business or customer base. Success of the organizational structure is dependent on the understanding of the technician of the level of responsibility of the technician, and when to appropriately escalate an issue to a higher support level. The reason for providing a multi-level technical support system instead of one general support group is to provide the best possible service in the most efficient possible manner. A common support structure revolves around a three-tiered technical support system.
Level 1 support is the initial support level responsible for basic customer issues. The first job of a Level 1 specialist is to gather the customer's information and to determine the customer's issue by analyzing the symptoms and figuring out the underlying problem. When analyzing the symptoms, it is important for the technician to identify what the customer is trying to accomplish so that time is not wasted on attempting to solve a symptom instead of a problem. Once identification of the underlying problem is established, the specialist can begin sorting through the possible solutions available. Nevertheless, the goal for this group is to handle a significant majority of the user problems before finding it necessary to escalate the issue to a higher level.
Level 2 support is a more in-depth technical support level than Level 1, which usually contains experienced and more knowledgeable personnel on a particular product or service. Level 2 technicians are responsible for investigating elevated issues and helping to ensure the intricacies of a challenging issue are solved by providing experienced and knowledgeable help. If the problem cannot be solved, then Level 3 support may be needed finally. Level 3 support is the highest level of support in a three-tiered technical support model responsible for handling the most difficult or advanced problems. Level 3 technicians are experts in their fields and are responsible for not only assisting both Tier I and Tier II technical personnel, but with the research and development of solutions to new or unknown issues.
Under current technical support schemes which follow the common three-tiered technical support model, every user that calls technical support is initially connected directly to Level 1 support regardless of how sophisticated the user's knowledge may be. For instance, if a user is a novice user, explaining a technical problem can be a challenge since the user may not have the necessary expertise to clarify the issue or accurately describe measures taken by the user over the phone in a clear and concise manner. This can result in wasted time for both the user and the technical support technician/agent since the technician cannot attempt to solve the issue until the problem has been identified correctly.
Alternatively, if the user is an advanced user capable of explaining the problem clearly, then the advanced power user would most likely know almost all of what Level 1 support is capable of troubleshooting or resolving. In these instances where the advanced user has already taken appropriate measures to resolve the issue but still is in need of an expert technician of Level 2 or Level 3 to resolve the problem, it would be of great convenience to allow the advanced user to by-pass Level 1 support. Unfortunately, the advanced user has no choice other than to initially go through Level 1 support before he/she can even get to Level 2 or 3 technical support. Thus, this results in wasted time for both the advanced user and Level 1 support agent.
Without considering the severity of the issue or technical sophistication of the user, current Level 1 technical support has become an inefficient component of the common three-tiered technical support model.